The present invention relates to a chemical waste effluent treatment and solvent recovery system which is designed to provide for solvent recovery, separation of recyclable chemicals and elimination of water pollution by providing an in situ secondary treatment site. The system, taken in combination, can function as a solar distillation unit, and would thus be solar powered.
The present invention is referred to as the "SOPWETS" as a means of identification. The primary use of the invention is for the recovery of solvents "organics or water" by solar distillation. The system also allows recycling. A further use is the recovery of solutes by precipitation by Electromotive Series. This also allows recycling.
Moreover, the system is an anti-pollution structure because it provides low cost, low effort recovery of solvents and solutes rather than pay for disposal in a landfill or arbitrarily pouring them into sewer or septic systems. The result of the SOPWETS system creates a "Zero Waste Effluent" in a laboratory in that no hazardous chemical waste is discarded by rinsing the final product into a drainage system.
Application of the system includes recovery of pure water from dissolved solids mixtures, recovery of turpentine from paint/turpentine solutions and recovery of volatile organic solvents with trace water or dissolved solid contamination.
The capacity of a single system in a commercial setting is an average of forty-five (45) gallons per year.
Educational institutions, hospitals, clinical laboratories, research labs, and various types of industry often use numerous noxious chemicals, such as in the biology and chemistry areas. Once used for commercial or experimental purposes, the excess chemicals and by-products must be disgarded. Conventionally, these excess chemicals and by-products have been poured down the sink. The result of this action has been contamination of ground water, water systems and the environment in general.
Therefore, the present invention was developed to both recover almost all reusable products from this waste in the form of by-products of excess chemicals and produce in a final product in the form of pure water. The system can recover purified water or some organic solvents. In addition, the system can return metals from solution if the percentage is sufficiently high (e.g. 1%-2%).
Inorganic compounds are usually soluable in water, some may need the addition of a mineral acid or base to aid in the dissolving. Any salt dissolved in water can be recovered in SOPWETS with the added feature of obtaining valuable metals in a relatively pure form.
Separation of inorganic solutions can be accomplished simultaneously by:
1. Precipitation of metals by electromotive series substitution. PA1 2. Precipitation of compounds by exceeding their soluability through the evaporation of solvent. PA1 3. Precipitation of compounds by adding chemicals to initiate a chemical reaction between waste dissolved substances and newly added materials, i.e., addition of chelators. PA1 4. Collection of distilled solvent (water) in product collection bottles. PA1 1. Dissolved solids precipitate as their soluability is exceeded during evaporation of solvent. PA1 2. Collection of distilled solvent in product collection bottle. Collection of solvent will be most volatile of all solvents present. PA1 3. Initial collection of least volatile solvent in secondary reservoir (with eventual collection in new product collection bottle with the aid of the solvent migrator).
Past attempts to remedy the defects and drawbacks in the disposal of waste by burial or other means in laboratories and industry have failed. The present invention is a sound, efficient, and economical means of not only recovering reusable materials, but in purifying any leftover product.
Moreover, the system can be used in a sufficient quantity either in educational, industrial, or related settings to handle any particular effluent flow and results in solving problems and bestowing benefits in various ways such as improving local water quality; economic savings in all settings due to the recycling of usuable products, low energy cost based upon the fact that the unit is solar powered and protection of the environment in general from noxious chemicals (i.e. heavy metals--lead, mercury, arsenic) and potential carcinogenic material such as chloroform, carbon tetrachloride and benzene based ring structures.
Generally most industrial organic solvents can be recovered in SOPWETS even containing impurities or organic solids or other organic solvents of higher molecular weight, higher boling point or higher vapor pressure. Classes of industrial organic solvents include hydrocarbons, chlorinated hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, esters, ketones glycols, amines, nitro-compounds and miscellaneous compounds (acetic acid, cresols).
Separation of organic compounds using SOPWETS can be accomplished simultaneously in three ways;
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a system which overcomes the problems and deficiencies associated with the previous disposal of excess chemicals, by-products and other waste in chemical and related forms.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a waste effluent treatment and a solvent recovery system which consists of a primary reservoir, solvent migrator, automatic leveling and recirculation element, a solar distilling unit, a bonnet and mirrors.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a waste effluent treatment and solvent recovery system which is not prone to fall into disrepair; which operates in a self-contained manner and which is compact in nature.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a waste effluent treatment and solvent recovery system which is adaptable to and capable of use in industrial as well as educational environments by assembly of a multiplicity of systems in parallel.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a device of the class indicated which is capable of the functions referred to and which is based upon the principals of solar distillation, capillary action, and chemical recovery.
Other objects will appear hereinafter.